One day she could be doing gory zombie makeup, and the next be painting a bedazzled corset onto a human body as her canvas.
Makeup artist, body painter and visual artist Vanessa Sophia Allen, a 24-year-old ASU alumnus, says every gig she has is always something interesting because body painting is an art form that is something unexpected, exciting and new that most people aren’t use to seeing.
“It’s something that’s a little out of the box, and I think is pretty limitless as far as what you can do,” Allen says. “I love it because it combines all the skills I’ve learned and love to do, including scenic art, makeup, costume design and performance art.”
Allen says her love for art started young and has evolved over time.
“I remember in my first grade art class we had to draw pictures of what we wanted to be when we grew up and I drew a picture of me with a little painter’s palette,” she says. “When I got into high school I took as many art classes as I could including painting and drawing, photography, metals and I also did scenic art with the theater department.”
Obviously body painting is a little different; Allen says most people are pretty uneasy while getting their bare bodies painted for the first time.
“I think it’s always funny how people feel totally naked and exposed at first but as soon as they see themselves with paint on they feel totally comfortable and don’t want to wash it off, and even want to go walk around in public and get other people’s reactions,” she says.
She says she loves that she can help people feel beautiful and confident about themselves through her artwork.
Allen’s art inspiration comes from a variety of things – she lists anything from nature, TV and magazines, as well as great ideas from models, photographers and other artists she collaborates with.
“When I approach a project I start with a little bit of an idea. Then I spend hours searching Google images and search different items that I’m looking for,” she says. “For example: realistic pictures, painted pictures, interesting angles, colors, textures, anything I can think of. You never know what you’ll find.”
Unlike the usual painting on paper, Allen says time is often limited in creating a design for live events where she’ll usually make up something on the spot with only 30 minutes to an hour for each.
But for photo shoots and showcase, she says she’ll spend several hours ahead of time doing picture research and drawing out sketches which could sometimes take up to six hours.
“I always have a general idea of what I want to do, whether I do a little research or draw out a full detailed sketch, but it’s always a rush because I never know for sure how its going to turn out because I almost always change things as I go,” Allen says. “When my design is finished and complete, I take a step back and I kind of surprise myself and am in awe at what I created.”
This past month, Allen signed on as one of the newly discovered underground artists with RAW, an independent arts organization for and by artists that provides the selected few with the tools and resources to further their careers.
Friday, Allen will be working at the Dia De Los Muertos Fashion Show at the Galeria de Los Muertos in downtown Phoenix.
Learn more about Vanessa Sophia Allen at visualizecreativity.com.
Reach the reporter at monica.vainauskas@asu.edu
